ISI fomenting 'chaotic activity' in Kashmir, says Admiral Mullen

24 July 2009The Hindustan Times

Dubai: In a damning indictment, a top US General has said the ISI is fomenting úchaotic activity in Kashmir and Afghanistan and asked the Pakistani spy agency to change its ústrategic thrust. The US is having údiscussions with the Pakistani leadership on this issue, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. Elaborating, he said the ISI has been supporting militant groups in Kashmir and the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) bordering Afghanistan. úI believe that in the long run the ISI has to change its strategic thrust which has been to foment chaotic activity you know in its border countries, Mullen, who has travelled to Islamabad for nearly a dozen times in the past one year, said. ú... that has been a Pakistan view to its own survival and its own security. And I think in the long run that's got to change, he said in a interview to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV. úWhat I mean is that they have clearly focussed on support of ... historically of militant organisations both east (India) and west (Afghanistan). I mean that's been a focus of theirs in Kashmir historically as well as in FATA. And I think ... that fundamentally has to change, he said. His remarks came when he was asked to explain what he meant by saying that the ISI had a strategic thrust to foment chaos in neighbouring countries.